Parliaments and governments database

Project description

ParlGov is a data infrastructure for political science and contains information for all EU and most OECD
democracies (37 countries). The database combines approximately
1600 parties,
950 elections (8700 results), and
1500 cabinets (3700 parties).

Party positions are based on various party expert surveys and sources vary for the dimensions we include. We have a codebook with more detailed information.

Q · Versions · stable, devel., exper.?

A development version reflects the current working environment. All recent updates and corrections are already included into it.

A stable versions is archived once a year, does not include pre-1945 data and we document changes between stable versions.

An experimental version can be accessed after signing in and it includes data (tables and variables) that are not included in the next stable version. It is a superset of the development version.

Q · Data types · primary, ext., view, calc.?

Primary data?: Information we collect and save in the ParlGov database. To be more specific, these are those database table that we actively maintain and that are based on various data sources.

External data?: Datasets that have been collected by other researchers and are linked to ParlGov data. You can combine this data with ParlGov observations through id variables or/and scripts. You have to cite the usage of these data separately.

Views?: Some observations can be calculated from primary data. This information is stored in seperate tables (views) and is generated automatically by the database. Relying on views avoids data redundancy, so that we have to update every observation only once.

Calculated parameters?: Some parameters can not be constructed through views and have to be calculated. Currently, we determine these values with various R scripts. As a consequence, these observation contain a variable that gives information about the date of calculation. We may update these scripts in the future and turn it into dynamic calculations.

Q · Status of pre-1945 data?

We have been adding pre-1945 information since 2015. It needs some clean-up, further validation and additional primary sources. This is work in progress and not part of the stable version.

Q · Release cycle of stable version?

Since 2016 we provide a stable version every other year and add it to the ParlGov Dataverse. From 2010 to 2015 we provided a stable version every year.

Q · Static copy of the webpage?

Stable releases up to ParlGov 2012 included a static copy of the webpage and all tables from the database. Creating this copy was a mundane, time cosuming and unreliable endevor. Hence, we have abondonded dumping the entire page and all tables for a stable version.

Q · How can I contribute?

Please get in touch if you would like to provide data, scripts, feedback.